Bogie for a suspended railway



Jan. 22, 1963 E. MATUSZEWSKI 3,074,358

BOGIE FOR A SUSPENDED RAILWAY Filed July 5, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FAg.1

l N VEN TO R I Edmond Ma zoszewski ATTORNEYS Jan. 22, 1963 E. MATUSZEWSKI 3,974,358

BOGIE FOR A SUSPENDED RAILWAY Filed July 5, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2

INVENTOR ATTOR NEYS Jan. 22, 1963 E. MATUSZEWSKI 3,074,358

BOGIE FOR A SUSPENDED RAILWAY Filed July 5, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR E dmona Mafuszews/ri ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,074,358 561R A SUSPENDED RAHLWAY Edmond Matuszewslr, Sainhfloud, France, assignor to cciete Generals dc Constructions Electritgues & Misca- (Alsthcm), Paris, France, a French company duly 5, Ser. No. 46,873 Claims priority, application France duty 7, 1%? Z Qiaims. {*Ci. res-14s The present invention relates to suspended railways, and has for an object, improvements therein.

Suspended railways, that is to say those of which the vehicles have their bodies suspended from bogies which run on an elevated track, are very useful for urban and suburban transport, because they do not use the existing and already insufficient tracks and because they are more economic in construction than underground railways.

Due to their nature, suspended railways impose certain conditions on the construction of bogies for their vehicles, such as: as narrow a gauge as possible so that the running track has small dimensions so as to make the construction of the system economical and enhance its appearance; an inclination of the vehicle body under the effect of transverse forces, other than centrifugal force, remaining within limits acceptable for the comfort of the passengers; silent operation; a minimum weight in order to reduce the energy consumption and the dimensions and cost of the track; a high commercial speed; and high operating safety.

An object of the present invention is to provide a motor bogie or a simple carrier bogie for a suspended railway, which satisfies these conditions.

The bogie is characterised essentially in that the body of the vehicle is supported by means of one or more suspension members which are elastically linked at their upper part, with one or more cross-pieces resting on springs carried by the chassis of the bogie, the tractive and braking forces being transmitted to the cross piece or cross-pieces and to the suspension member or members by means of preferably elastic rods, and the transverse oscillatory movements of the said suspension member or members being limited by the elastic rods, which are preferably provided with a shock absorbing system.

The bogie comprises, moreover, carrier or driving wheels with pneumatic tires; the bogie being guided by wheels running on a vertical axis and also fitted with pneumatic tires and located inside the running track, if the latter is advantageously in the form of a box girder. The motor or motors have a hi h speed; the tractive force is transmitted to the wheels through a reduction and difierential bridge; the motor or motors are mounted longitudinally overhung on the gear box of the bridge.

The chassis of the bogie can be reduced to a simple cross-piece and the primary suspension can be abolished. The body of the vehicle can be attached to a fork with a transverse axis carried by the suspension member or members at their lower part at the level of the running plane of the carrier or driving wheels.

The springs supporting a cross-piece are advantageously constituted of pneumatic bellows situated laterally on both sides of the suspension member, the pressure in the pneumatic suspension bellows being capable of being automatically regulated in order to maintain a constant vehicle body height whatever the load.

With reference to the accompanying schematic figures, there will be described a non-limiting example of an embodiment of the invention in the case of a motor bogie. The arrangements of the embodiment which will be described with regard to this example must be considered as forming part of the invention, it being understood that 3,d?d,353 ?atented Jan. 22., 1963 any equivalent arrangements could also be used without departing from the scope of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view in elevation, with a partial section along the longitudinal axis of the box girder track, of a motor bogie,

PEG. 2 and FIG. 3 are respectively plan and end views of the same bogie in the box girder track, FIG. 3 being a partial transverse section.

Referring to the drawings, the weight of the bogie is supported by four pneumatic wheels 1 which transmit both the tractive and braking forces. The bogie is guided within the box girder track 2 by four pneumatictired guiding wheels 3 running on vertical axes and hearing on the vertical walls of the girder 2.

The driving force is provided by longitudinally-mounted electric motors 4 located so as to overhang gearboxes 5 containing the usual transmission components, not shown, such as couplings, Wheels and tangent screws, or Gleason toothed conical gears, spur and differential gears arranged in a known suitable manner and providing a simple or double reduction transmission of required ratio.

To the gear-boxes 5, there are attached transverse casings 6 containing the half-shafts, not shown, integral with the Wheels 1 and their bearings. On the other hand, the gear-boxes 5 are attached to a chassis '7 with which they form a rigid assembly.

The chassis 7 comprises a cavity 8 across which passes a suspension member '9 provided with a fork it having a transverse axis ill situated approximately in the running plane of the wheels l in such a manner as to practically abolish the static unloadings caused by the aplication of tractive or braking forces. The body of the vehicle, not shown, is linked into the fork ll).

At its upper part, the suspension member is elastically connected to a cross-piece 12 by means of an elastic ring 13, for example made from rubber, located between the two flanges id of the suspension member and the cross-piece, and of a suitable generally conical shape.

The cross-piece 12 itself rests on two pneumatic bellows springs 15 of a known type, fixed in a sealed manner, on the one hand, to chambers 16 of the cross-piece l2 and, on the other hand, to chambers 17 of the chassis '7. Each of the chambers 16 of the cross-piece 12 forms with the bellows l5 and the chamber 17 of the chassis 7, a single sealed cavity holding a uniform pressure of compressed air. This compressed air, provided for example from the air reservoirs of the vehicle, is fed by pipes and accessories, not shown, at a pressure which is controlled in a known manner in such a way that the height of the pneumatic bellows springs 15 remains constant Whatever their static load. The cross-piece 12 is connected, preferably elastically, by articulated rods 13, for example in the form of silentblocs, to two fixed points, such as 19, on the assembly comprising gear-box 5 and chassis 7.

On the other hand, the tractive and braking forces are transmitted to the suspension member 9 in the area of the fork ill by means of rods 20 linked, preferably elastically like the rods 18, to two fixed points, such as 21, on the gear-box and chassis assembly, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to two joints 22 on a collar 23 crossed by the suspension member 9 and capable of turning and sliding on itself.

The transverse oscillatory movements of the suspension member 9 under the effect of swinging of the vehicle body, are limited by the elastic rods 24 which are preferably shock absorbing, and under an initial tension, joined at 25 to the collar 23, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to the fixed points 26 on the chassis 7.

The driving Wheels 1 and/ or the guiding wheels 3 can be fitted with safety rings, such as 27, in order to limit the effects of puncture of the tires. Braking can be obtained by any known means such as a drum or disc brake, not shown.

in the example which has just been described, it has been assumed that a motor bogie is concerned. It is sufliciently clear that by dispensing with the motors 4 and the transmission between these and the wheels, and by modifying, if desired, the gear-boxes 5, a simple carrier bogie can be obtained.

The bogie which has just been described meets all the needs of a suspended railway. The reduction of the gauge is obtained by the fixing of the axes of the motors in the longitudinal plane of the bogie and by the abolition of the primary suspension. The transverse inclination of the body is limited by the elastic rods. Silent operation and the comfort of the passengers are obtained concurrently by the use of pneumatic wheels, by the use of elastic joints, by the restriction of the inclination of the vehicle body and by the suspension on springs of constant height under load and of variable flexibility. The lightness and the economy result from the use of fast motors, from the reduction of the chassis of the bogie to a simple cross-piece, from the abolition of the primary suspension made possible by the high flexibility of the pneumatic springs and by the pneumatic wheels, and from the small wheel-base made possible by the external mounting of the motors. A high commercial speed can be attained by making use of the good grip of the pneumatic tires under traction and braking.

Finally, safety in service is obtained by the safety rings of the motor and carrier wheels, by the safety stirrups, not shown, preventing the dropping of the guiding wheels in the event of a braking of their axles, for example, and by a safety cable, not shown, running across the suspension member, attached at its upper part to the crosspiece 12 and, at its lower part, to the body of the vehicle.

Numerous variations of the embodiment previously described can be used without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the motors, instead of being mounted with their axes in the longitudinal direction, can be mounted with their axes vertical. Each bogie can have one motor instead of two. The collar 23, instead of being sliding and turning on the suspension member 9, may be integral with it, if the elasticity of the joints of the rods 29 and 24 allows the necessary play.

The bogie can have three pairs of wheels: two driving pairs and one carrier pair, or three carrier pairs in the case of a carrier bogie. In this case, two suspension members such as 9 can be used, connected together by 3.- means of a swing bar secured by swivels between the forks such as 10 to the middle of which the body of the vehicle is attached.

The pneumatic bellows springs 15 can be replaced by metal springs and the chassis 7 and the cross-piece 12 consequently simplified if one does not wish to benefit from the advantages of pneumatic suspension.

I claim:

1. A bogie for a suspended railway, comprising a chassis member, spring means carried by said chassis member, at least one cross-piece connected by its two ends to said spring means, at least one suspension member for supporting a vehicle body, a flange at the upper part of said at least one suspension member and resting on said cross-piece, flexible means disposed between said flange and the said cross-piece, rod members flexibly connected to said chassis member on the one hand and to the said cross-piece and said at least one suspension member on the other hand, for transmitting tractive and braking forces to said cross-piece and said at least one suspension member, and flexible rods flexibly connected to said chassis on the one hand and to the said at least one suspension member on the other hand to limit transverse oscillatory movements of said at least one suspension member.

2. A bogie for a suspended railway, comprising a chassis member, a pair of springs carried by said chassis member on opposite sides thereof, a cross-piece connected by its two ends respectively, each to one of said pair of springs, a suspension member for supporting a vehicle body, a flange fixed to the upper portion of said suspension member and resting upon said cross-piece, flexible means disposed between the said flange and said cross-piece, a collar mounted to slide on said suspension member, rods on elastic articulations connected to said chassis member on the one hand and to said collar on the other hand, to transmit tractive and braking forces "to said cross-piece and said suspension member, and a shock absorbing system including pretensioned flexible rods connected to said chassis member on the one hand and to said collar on the other hand to limit transverse oscillatory movements of said suspension member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,020,540 Dunlap Nov. 12, 1935 2,060,402 Strauss Nov. 10, 1936 2,274,016 Verplanck Feb. 24, 1942 

1. A BOGIE FOR A SUSPENDED RAILWAY, COMPRISING A CHASSIS MEMBER, SPRING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID CHASSIS MEMBER, AT LEAST ONE CROSS-PIECE CONNECTED BY ITS TWO ENDS TO SAID SPRING MEANS, AT LEAST ONE SUSPENSION MEMBER FOR SUPPORTING A VEHICLE BODY, A FLANGE AT THE UPPER PART OF SAID AT LEAST ONE SUSPENSION MEMBER AND RESTING ON SAID CROSS-PIECE, FLEXIBLE MEANS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID FLANGE AND THE SAID CROSS-PIECE, ROD MEMBERS FLEXIBLY CONNECTED TO SAID CHASSIS MEMBER ON THE ONE HAND AND TO THE SAID CROSS-PIECE AND SAID AT LEAST ONE SUSPENSION MEMBER ON THE OTHER HAND, FOR TRANSMITTING TRACTIVE AND BRAKING FORCES TO SAID CROSS-PIECE AND SAID AT LEAST ONE SUSPENSION MEMBER, AND FLEXIBLE RODS FLEXIBLY CONNECTED TO SAID CHASSIS ON THE ONE HAND AND TO THE SAID AT LEAST ONE SUSPENSION MEMBER ON THE OTHER HAND TO LIMIT TRANSVERSE OSCILLATORY MOVEMENTS OF SAID AT LEAST ONE SUSPENSION MEMBER. 